Making common sense out of the "rules" of music theory. Learn to Part Write and Analyze Tonal Music.

This Part Writing and Analysis Course is the third of a series of courses that take the student from the very beginnings of musical understanding to getting an "A" in a college music theory class. You do not have to be a college student to take this course, but by the time you finish the series, it will be as if you had taken several semesters of classes. If you are going to take college music classes, this series will save you a considerable amount of stress and maybe even some tuition money.

Students who have mastered music Fundamentals and Level II courses will now apply their skills to voice leading 4 part harmony in SATB format. The common "rules" of music theory are explained as constraints. We do what we need to do to make the sounds we want to hear. We avoid the sounds that we do not want to hear.

The Lectures can be viewed in an afternoon. However, as with many subjects, it is the consistent practice that internalizes the knowledge so that it becomes second nature. To this end I have included dozens of worksheets and audio files for practice with each lesson. Working with a friend, parent, or partner can be very effective in keeping this practice motivated.

You will need a printer and an MP3 player of some kind to do the practice work. Having a piano keyboard nearby to practice on will also greatly accelerate learning. Mastery of the the complete series may take as little as six months or as long as two years. The Part Writing and Analysis Course is normally taught in 9-18 weeks.

Take your knowledge and skills to the next level: minor keys, chords, figured bass, Roman numerals, meter and rhythm.

This Intermediate Course is the second of a series of courses that take the student from the very beginnings of musical understanding to getting an "A" in a college music theory class. You do not have to be a college student to take this course, but by the time you finish the series, it will be as if you had taken several semesters of classes. If you are going to take college music classes, this series will save you a considerable amount of stress and maybe even some tuition money.

The Lectures can be viewed in an afternoon. However, as with many subjects, it is the consistent practice that internalizes the knowledge so that it becomes second nature. To this end I have included dozens of worksheets and audio files for practice with each lesson. Working with a friend, parent, or partner can be very effective in keeping this practice motivated.

You will need a printer and an MP3 player of some kind to do the practice work. Having a piano keyboard nearby to practice on will also greatly accelerate learning. Mastery of the the complete series may take as little as six months or as long as two years. The Intermediate Course is normally taught in 18-36 weeks.

Music Composition 2 is the second course in a series of two courses that teaches how music is put together and how to write your own music. The course is divided into two parts. Part one covers the study of harmonic composition. Part two covers the study of compositional form. (Rhythmic and melodic composition were studied in Music Composition 1. It is highly recommended that you take Music Composition 1 before taking this course.)

Course lectures consist of both video and text. (If you would like to read rather than watch videos, each lecture can also be found in .pdf format under the downloadable materials tab) Each section of the course covers a particular concept (or related concepts). Concepts and compositional techniques are demonstrated throughout the course with real musical examples (pictures and audio samples).

Besides lectures, each section of the course also contains memory questions, section quiz, listening assignments, and composition assignments. Memory questions serve to summarize and reinforce key concepts learned, while the quizzes tests the students’ knowledge and understanding of the material from each section. Students who take this course will get practice notating music with music notation software. In the composition assignments students will get real life practice using the information and techniques learned in each section to write and develop their own harmonic progressions. By the end of the course students (who have taken both Music Composition 1 and Music Composition 2) will have composed a number of entire pieces in various compositional forms.

The length of time needed to complete the course depends on how much time is spent each day/week on the material. To complete all the assignments in each section, a suggested pace might be 1-2 weeks per section. (There are 14 sections.)

Who should take this course? Every student of music should know how to compose! It is a sad but true fact that most modern music teachers and music courses do not include music composition as part of the students’ musical education. In the past it was typical for students of music to be able to compose music. The "complete” musician can play an instrument, has knowledge of music theory AND can also compose! If you want to deepen your understanding of music, learn to write it!

Music Theory I is designed for any person interested in learning the basics of western music theory. It is specifically tailored to students in a college or university setting, but it is perfect for anyone simply looking to learn, or improve their understanding of, music theory.

What are the lessons like?

Lessons are presented in short, information-dense modules with many quizzes and downloadable worksheets accompanying them. Each video is written and constructed to be as concise as possible so that no time is wasted. The lessons are structured to build on each other making the flow seamless and easy to understand.

Who teaches the course?

Max Keller is currently a full-time lecturer in the areas of music theory and composition at the Mahidol University College of Music. If you have any questions while studying this course Max personally responds to all discussions and messages.

Who should take this course?

Anyone who took the previous course, "Music Theory Foundations”

College or university students taking the first year of music theory

Anyone who can read music a little and wants to understand more about music theory

A producer or composer that is looking to improve their craft

People who want to take the best online courses for music theory there are

What are the requirements?

Know the concepts taught in Music Theory Foundations

Be able to read music notation

Have a pdf reader

What am I going to get from this course?

Over 17 lectures and 1 hour of content!

Master the first semester of college music theory

Notate different types of rhythms

Understand functions of notes within the major and minor scales

Understand diatonic chord functions

Correctly resolve dominant 7th chords to tonic

Realize figured bass lines

Harmonize a precomposed melody

What is the target audience?

This is a college level course. It is meant for students who already know how to read sheet music and understand basic music theory including: treble and bass clefs, intervals, triads, major and minor scales, and key signatures.

If any of these areas are unknown or are perhaps weak then students are highly encouraged to take my course entitled "Music Theory Foundations” which was created to help absolute beginning students prepare for Music Theory I.

Curriculum

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Introduction 00:30

Section 2: Interval Review

Lecture 2 Interval Review 03:44

A review of reading intervals with guidance on ways to read them faster.

Quiz 1 Interval Review 9 questions

Section 3: Rhythmic Notation

Lecture 3 Metric and Intermetric Rhythmic Notation 03:38

This lesson shows some rhythmic notation guidelines and how to beam various beat subdivisions.

Quiz 2 Metric and Intermetric Rhythm 6 questions

Lecture 4 Notating Syncopations 04:50

Sometimes ties are needed to notate rhythms that cross the beats

Quiz 3 Syncopation 7 questions

Section 4: Chords

Lecture 5 Functional Tendencies 07:16

Learn how tendency notes shape chord progressions and functions within a scale.

Quiz 4 Functional Tendencies 5 questions

Lecture 6 7th Chords 03:00

This lesson teaches all the possible tertian 7th chords and how to notate their figured bass inversions

Quiz 5 7th Chords 9 questions

Lecture 7 Diatonic 7th Chords 05:24

A rundown of all the 7th chords created by the diatonic scales along with explanations as to why some of them are avoided and/or are extremely rare in the common practice era.

Quiz 6 Diatonic 7th Chords 8 questions

Lecture 8 Roman Numeral Analysis 03:04

Put all the tools learned so far to use by analyzing a Bach excerpt.

Quiz 7 Roman Numeral Analysis 7 questions

Section 5: Chorale Part Writing

Lecture 9 Contrapuntal Motions 01:20

Learn the terms for vertical motions created by two notes

Quiz 8 Contrapuntal Motions 7 questions

Lecture 10 Chorale Harmonization Rules Part 1 03:52

This lesson introduces many of the rules of chorale (4 part) harmonization: ranges, spacing, voice crossings, overlaps, and intervals to avoid.

Play songs by EAR & recognize places where chord changes in songs. Learn Music Theory & Play by Ear Techniques listening

Course Updated: November 15, 2015

Play by Ear Method Level 3:

Learn to harmonize songs by EAR with my 3 Chord Harmony Trick. Learn Music Theory & Music Techniques to listen to how chord changes in songs.

Are you bored to tears playing piano?

As I am writing out this page, I just received the following message from my student Barbara who has been taking my piano courses one after another:

"We are on fire with the need to accomplish goals and you are a God given teacher!! :) I seem to be having a love affair with my piano now….can't get enough and want to be with the keys all day. It's a wonderful feeling. I praise God for all the knowledge and you for sharing your talent."

Start picking up the Skill to PLAY by EAR and your piano playing is going to take off like it has for my student here. You will be in love with your piano, playing your music, making music at the piano ALL day! Believe me, I see this happening to students all the time.

Learn to play by EAR and learn how to harmonize songs by EAR! It is a very comprehensive in-depth study so that you will be able to pick up this skill IMMEDIATELY.

You need to free your mind from reading notes, free your mind from memorizing things, and just concentrate on LISTENING to SOUNDS, listening to CHORD progressions, listening to the sounds you play at the piano. This is what piano playing is about!

My students are having so much FUN and on FIRE at the piano from one course to another. This is Level 3 of part of the Play by Ear Series.

Overview of the Course:

In this course, you are going to learn about CHORDS & MELODY in Harmony!

You will pick up 34 Magic Tips & a total of 17 Songs to practice on so that you can harmonize hundreds of songs with only 3 Chords: I, IV, V7

This course explains in clear steps how figured bass works and more importantly how you can master it. We'll also take a quick peek why it exists in the first place!

Perfect for ABRSM Grade 6 and Grade 7 Music Theory Candidates

Step-by-step methods for acing figured bass exam-style questions

Learn how to realize a figured bass

Understand all chord inversions including 7th chords and suspensions

Learn how to create a figured bass line to fit a given melody

All the fundamentals of musical harmony are explained to you, and you'll get plenty of tips on best practice as well, so your harmony will sound great.

The course also covers specific exam questions which come up in the ABRSM music theory exams (grades 6 and 7), as well as in the UK A Level Music (technical study paper) and AP Music theory.

Each lesson contains real music examples and you get to watch me working through the exam questions in real time. I'll share with you the best way to think through the questions, which rules of harmony have to be obeyed and which are simply guidelines, and how to check through your work to maximize your success.

Each musical example is worked through as per the exam question rubric, but I then show you how that music could be further decorated in practice to produce beautiful music - all audio is included of course!

Figured bass doesn't have to be difficult. Why not take a look at the free preview lessons to get an idea of how a few rules can be transferred into writing the best possible harmony!

The music fundamentals of figured bass take a little time to learn, but once you have mastered the theory, putting it into practice is the fun part. Join me now and take your music theory to the next level!

Music theory is fundamental to making and playing music. However, no one has taught it in such a user-friendly and songwriting-focused way as we do here, using both keyboard and guitar to demonstrate the techniques. Professional musician Julian Velard starts the course with the building blocks of harmony: notes, scales, intervals, chords, inversions, and basic chord progressions. He then goes into voice leading—showing how to move from one chord to another by changing just one or two notes—and reviews common song forms, from the familiar verse/chorus/verse of pop to the simple verse of the blues. At the end of each chapter, Julian explains the songwriting techniques shown in the chapter within the context of his own original commercially released songs.

Techdeephouse - website of electronic music and soft. In this website you can download tracks of different genres of electronic music and soft for free. The best releases of electronic music on Techdeephouse.com.